Grant loss saddens some

By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer | Monday, May 08, 2006

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RAPID CITY -- For some American Indian parents in the Rapid City School District, news that the Bush administration had eliminated the $16.4 million Johnson-O'Malley grant program for 2007 came as a surprise.

At a Thursday evening parent meeting, Sharon Bowman of Rapid City said her grandchildren had used the funds to help buy school supplies and to participate in music, sports and culture programs at their schools in Rapid City.

A loss of the program could limit the educational opportunities for her grandchildren, she said.

"I'm shocked. I have a lot of grandchildren who depend on Johnson-O'Malley funds," Bowman said.

The House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee on Thursday voted to restore the Johnson O'Malley Program funds for Fiscal Year 2007 at $16.4 million, the same amount funded for FY2006.

In the past month, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said now is not the time to cut a successful American Indian education program, particularly one directed at grade school students.

Johnson, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., said they were pleased that funding had been restored in subcommittee for the program, but noted that the funding program would go through many hoops before being restored.

Arthur Zimiga, director of Title 7 of the Indian Education Act and of Indian Education for the Rapid City area schools, said Johnson-O'Malley pays for Indian students' summer-school classes, provides scholarships and buys graduating seniors their caps and gowns while attending public schools in Rapid City. Losing the funding would hurt the education of students in Indian Country, Zimiga said.

Established in 1936, the program affects about 500,000, or 93 percent, of Indian students who attend public schools in 23 states. The grant program has supported schools with a commitment to meet Indian students' educational needs, including education in Indian culture and history, remedial instruction and retention programs as well as personal needs such as books and eyeglasses.

"It will have a tremendous effect upon the Native American children in Rapid City," Zimiga said about the elimination of the program.

Parents at Thursday's meeting said eliminating the program would hit many families' budgets hard in the Rapid City Indian community.

Genevieve Bluebird's daughter, Razelle Benally, depended on the grant program to help pay for her ACT college-admission test and three online high school courses.

Because Benally, a Central High School graduating senior, carries a high grade-point average, she also received $25 worth of movie tickets as an incentive for her academic achievement, Bluebird said.

"It really helped us out," Bluebird said.

Of modest means, Bluebird said that she would not have been able to afford the $180 price tag of her daughter's online classes or the $43 for her ACT test. She worries that students currently enrolled in the Rapid City school system won't have the same advantages the funding provided her daughter.

"It does make a difference," Bluebird said. "We live paycheck to paycheck. I couldn't have afforded these courses and testing without it."

Bowman said that her family would do what they could to support her grandchildren in their various interests in public school and the costs that go with them.

"We would make it happen, but eliminating these funds just adds to the financial hardship of these families in our community," she said.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.